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Winning design for the Westminster New Parliamentary Building Competition, 1972 (unrealised) showing proposed interior of the ground floor reception area

Architect: Spence, Michael Robin · 1938-2017Architect: Webster, Robin, OBE RSA · b. 1939

Winning design for the Westminster New Parliamentary Building Competition, 1972 (unrealised) showing proposed interior of the ground floor reception area

In the early 1970s plans were announced to demolish a block of buildings on the corner of Victoria Embankment with Bridge Street, on the north bank of…

In the early 1970s plans were announced to demolish a block of buildings on the corner of Victoria Embankment with Bridge Street, on the north bank of the Thames and directly opposite Big Ben in London, to provide much-needed office accommodation for MPs who had outgrown the available space within Sir Charles Barry's original Houses of Parliament building. Despite the underground passing underneath the site, the exact alignment of the tracks was not known and the winning design relied on four service towers to support the building, making the exact location of the underground critical to the success of the project.

An architectural competition was organized by the Royal Incorporation of British Architects (RIBA) in 1972 which attracted over 1,000 expressions of interest, resulting in 246 actual entries.

The winning design by Robin Spence and Robin Webster was for a seven-storey (excluding basements and attics) rectangular block clad in bronze and bronzed glass and suspended from a then pioneering computer-designed latticed roof structure and supported by four concealed service towers. The main office floors were raised above a central courtyard and the top floor was to contain a 'secret' roof garden with views across London. The plan originally envisaged the ground floor being open to the public but his idea was shelved and the plan revised to incorporate bomb-proof glass. The winning architects received £8,000, and the estimate for the construction was put at £7million.

The RIBA exhibition of the top seven designs attracted about 14,000 visitors, however it was noted at the time that less than half of sitting MPs visited it, despite the proposed building being essentially for their convenience.

RIBA has 44 photoprints relating to this project (AP311/157-AP311/200) including images of a model, and different plans and elevations and mock ups of interiors. https://riba.sirsidynix.net.uk/uhtbin/cgisirsi/?ps=wfU9pELRxX/MAIN_CAT/X/9

The Greater London Council objected and the plans were adjusted to assuage their concerns. Despite this, and an increasing number of MPs joining the opposition to the building, it was approved by Parliament in June 1973.

The architects continued to develop their plans but construction was never begun and the country was hit by an economic down-turn. In 1July 1975 the project was finally abandoned, construction costs having spiralled to £30 million.

vide;
https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/unbuilt-london-a-bronze-slab-next-to-parliament-16296/

Mira Bar-Hillel wrote an article titled 'The house that Robin never built. An announcement that a scheme for additional Parliamentary accommodation had been agreed by the House, came as a surprise to architects Spence & Webster, who won the competition in 1972, but are not to have a say in the new project.' the journal 'Building,' vol. 235, no. 7049(32), 1978 Aug. 11, p. 38. https://riba.sirsidynix.net.uk/uhtbin/cgisirsi/?ps=DiOgaYhtvy/MAIN_CAT/X/9

The winning design, and the potential delays occasioned by the ownership of the land and the existing buildings on site which were to be demolished to make room for it, and of any archaeological finds made on the site, was the subject of a detailed question raised in parliament by Sydney Chapman, the Member for Birmingham Handsworth on 1972-08-09. Chapman who expressed himself a supporter of the winning design argued strongly that work proceed as quickly as possible but raised his concerns on the above points (not least whether the Government had secured the land). Amongst the counter arguments presented by Chapman's opponents it was noted that many of Britain's leading architects had not submitted designs. This led to Chapman forcibly arguing that it would be morally indefensible, and send the wrong message on the future and veracity of architectural competitions if the winning design was to be over-turned and an alternative one substituted. Chapman also called for models of the top seven designs to be made and put on public display.

vide; https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1972/aug/09/new-parliamentary-building

Another model of Spence and Webster's winning design, alongside models of the next 6 top placed designs, is in the UK Parliament’s Heritage Collections (ref AFC 002264).

vide; https://heritagecollections.parliament.uk/collections/getrecord/HOP_AFC_002264

In 1992 a new building was commissioned for the site, with the architects Michael Hopkins and Partners publishing their designs in 1993. The existing buildings on the site were demolished in 1994 and work on the new building, known as Portcullis House and providing office accommodation for 213 MPs and their staff, began to rise above ground level in 1998 and was finally opened in 2001. The lengthy gestation reflected the fact that a new underground station was incorporated in the overall plan and further works were carried out to other London underground lines. Interestingly the new building features elements "borrowed" from the Spence-Webster design for the site from 1972 including a lattice roof structure covering internal gardens, and a ground floor open to the public.

vide; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portcullis_House

According to Robin Webster's Obituary for his former partner, the plans were drawn up in Robin Spence's dining room.

See the Production Note above for details of the Westminster competition